In our introductory lesson on parts of speech in English grammar, we said that noun is a name of a person, animal, place, or thing. We said it could be the name of people Eg Man, Woman, Ali, etc., Or names of animals eg. Cat, dog, horse, etc, or names of things eg. House, motor, car, tree, pain, truth, etc.
Noun Numbers
Having understood the basic meaning of nouns, we can now proceed to detail this part of speech and how they come to usage in English grammar.
Thus, we start with Noun Numbers
Definition of Noun Numbers
In nouns, number means the mode of indicating whether we are speaking of one thing or of more than one.
We have two noun numbers in English grammar; they are:
- Singular nouns &
- Plural nouns
– The singular number denotes that one thing is spoken of, for instance, boy, dog, book, home, desk, etc.
– Then the plural number highlights when more than one thing is spoken of. Take for example; girls, cars, pens, houses, etc.
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Changing From Singular Number to Plural Number and Vice Versa
There are three key methods we can change the singular form of nouns to the plural form in English grammar. The 3 ways include;
- By adding – en
- By changing the root vowels in the singular word
- By adding – s ( or – es)
In modern-day English, the addition of –s (or – es) has prevailed in written and spoken English, which says that whenever we adopt a new word we make it plural by adding –s or – es.
Detailed Explanation Of Each Method For a Better Understanding
Let us explain in detail the three methods we can change the singular form of noun numbers to the plural form of noun numbers.
i. Changing singular noun to plural by adding the suffix – en
This form of plural noun number can be gotten in a few words in present-day English grammar. They can be seen in such words as;
Ox – Oxen
Brother – Brethren
Child – Children, etc.
ii. By Changing the root vowel in the noun word
In the English language/grammar, we have what are called vowel sounds. They include the following alphabets ( a e i o u). Thus, This category is where the root vowels in a singular word can be changed to get its plural form.
For example:
Man – Men
Foot – Feet
Goose – Geese
Louse – Lice
Mouse – Mice
Tooth – Teeth
iii. Changing from Singular to Plural By adding – s or – es
Under this category, you can add –s or –es to a singular word to make it plural.
In the case of (-es), if a word ends in a letter that cannot add -s and be pronounced, such as box, cross, ditch, lens, quartz, etc, -ES is added in certain cases to make it plural. –ES is also added to a few words ending in O.
For example;
box — boxes
Cross — Crosses. Lens — lenses
Hero – Heroes
Cargo – Cargoes
Negro – Negroes
Volcano – Volcanoes, etc.
That is for noun numbers part 1. However, before we come to the end of this part, let’s take a look at some self-development exercises down below;
EXERCISES:
1. How many Noun Numbers are there in English grammar
2. Put a noun in each of the following spaces
(a). The ——- drove the ——
(b). The ——- played with a —–
(c). The —– climbed the ——and picked an —–
3. In the following sentences, indicate the “nouns” that are “singular” and the “nouns” that are “plural.”
(a). The hen has twelve chickens
(b). The boys are playing in the field
(c) My books are in my bag
(d) There are pictures on the walls of this room
(e) The guard blows his whistle and waves his flag.
4. Complete the following sentences using “Nouns” in the “Singular” number
(a). The —– kicked the —-
(b). Give me your —–
(c). My —– is on the —–
5. Complete the following sentences using “Nouns” in the “Plural” number
(a). The —– are playing with the ——
(b). How many —– have you?
(c). The lorry has four —–
Important Notes
Sounds in English alphabets are categorized into two
- Vowels &
- Consonants
Vowels are [a e i o u]
Consonants are [ b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z]
Now, in written and spoken English grammar, the articles “a” and “an” go with these vowels and consonants in different ways
“a” goes with Vowels
“an” goes with Consonants.
The only case that disobeys this rule is that of the following two Vowel starting words that instead go with “a”. There are;
(a). University: You can see that it started with the Vowel “U” but when using it in English grammar it uses “a” because of the fact that it sounds like “Y”. E.G. [a university student, he attended a university in the USA, etc.]
(b). Europe: Here it has the same case as the above. E.G. [a European footballer just is the richest man in the world, a European bank awarded him a $1,000 reward, etc.]
In our next lesson, we would discuss Noun Numbers part 2. Here we will learn the different rules guiding the changing of singular nouns to plural nouns in English grammar.
Thank you & see you at the top!